Story by Sophia Kecskes

Congratulations to the students of Grant High School’s Environmental Club, who recently received a $50,300 grant from the State Farm Youth Advisory Board to build a new community garden! We were proud to welcome several members of the club to talk about their project at a Council ceremony kicking off National Food Day in Portland yesterday.

Thanks to the students' outstanding advocacy, Grant High School will soon be home to its own “School Learning Garden,” which includes both a community garden and an educational learning garden on 9,000 square feet in front of the school.

The ‘Grant Gardens’ will benefit students as well as neighbors, and will be part of the school’s Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture classes.

On October 1, the students officially received the grant award, and celebrated with a groundbreaking ceremony for the new garden. The event was a huge success and a great first look at the community that will come together as the garden develops.

We’re so proud of these ambitious students and can’t wait to see the new garden when it’s finished!

Through our ‘1,000 Gardens’ initiative we’re working to add 1,000 new garden plots by the end of 2012, so we’re also looking forward to add these to the list.

Check out our ‘1,000 Gardens’ blog for more about this exciting project, and visit the Friends of Portland Community Gardens website for information about starting your own community garden.